


Once All Is Said And Done

by ArtemisDiana



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Fix-It, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-20
Updated: 2015-03-20
Packaged: 2018-03-18 18:06:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3578886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisDiana/pseuds/ArtemisDiana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An 'everybody lives' short shot because I couldn't handle myself</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once All Is Said And Done

_ “Can you promise that I will come back?”  
“No, and if you do, you will not be the same.” _

_  
_He shouldn’t really blame Gandalf like he does. After all, he’d been warned, but he still felt like a little more information on exactly how he would be changed would have been warranted. He sits on his porch now, year after year, watching the slow movements of Hobbiton beneath him and wishing he was anywhere but here. He wants to be on the road, sleeping on a bedroll beneath the stars with dwarves at his back and firelight in his eyes.

      Gaffer stares up at him sometimes, leaning on his pitchfork when he thinks Bilbo isn’t paying attention, but Bilbo doesn’t mind. They stare at him on the rare occasion he goes to market as well, when he needs to replenish his pantry. He knows he must be confusing the rest of the residents of their quiet little town, showing up the way he did after so much time gone, dirty and tired and worn. He still looks worn, he knows, bags beneath his eyes that he can’t seem to get rid of, though it would probably help if he could sleep more more then an hour or two at night.

      His bed seems too soft, now, too open, and he’s moved his bedroll to the hearth in a vain hope that it’ll help him sleep, but it doesn’t seem to have worked yet. He doesn’t know how much longer he can function the way he has been, with little sleep and less food, and it’s almost a blessing the day one of the Sackville-Baggins shows up.

-

      He goes through the routine of tidying away all the silver and doilies like he never left in the first place, making sure that everything he wanted to keep was out of sight and hopefully out of reach of snitching fingers before he opened the door that was vibrating on its hinges from the pounding.

      ‘Well, it’s about time you opened up, I thought I was I going to have to wait out there all day until you let me in!’

      Lobelia swept past him, skirts stirring the dust in the corners of the hallway, and he finds himself entranced by the swirls they form on the flagstone. He belatedly remembers to follow after her, absently offering tea and biscuits, trying to recall if he had any decent cheeses in the pantry. He ducks his head around the corner to find her already swinging the kettle over the fire, a jar of tea pulled out of a pocket and waiting for a pot, so he steps to the side to fetch the biscuits and cheese.

      ‘My dear Lobelia, what brings you all the way down here on such a fine day?’

      He knows exactly why she’s here, of course. He’d been surprised that she and her husband hadn’t simply moved in while he’d been gone, but he suspected that he might have Gandalf’s rune to thank for that. He quietly sliced the cheese and brewed the tea as she talked at him, going back to pull out some sardines when he realized there wasn’t as much cheese in that particular block as he had thought. He let her voice wash over him, minutes passing sticky-slow into hours, counted only by new pots of tea and new blocks of cheese, until a firm knock at the door silenced her in surprise. Bilbo blinks in just as much surprise, levering himself up from the chair and padding to the front hall. No one ever came but Lobelia, so who was on the porch?

     ’C’mon, boy, open up! Our arms are getting tired!’

     ’Dwalin?’

     Mystified, Bilbo pulled the door open wide, taking in the welcome sight of several dwarves on his porch, arms full of crates from the market and game slung over shoulders. A warm smile stretched across his face as Dwalin, Balin, and Bifur filed past him, bustling past Lobelia with brusque nods into the kitchen and unloading their arms. Bilbo peered out down the path, trying to see if there were any more dwarves coming up the way.

     ’The rest’ll be along in their own time, boy, don’t worry. The three young’uns are trying to land a few fish, an’ Bofur’s keeping Bombur from eating the supplies they’re carrying.’

     He closed the door slowly, smile still on his face until he almost ran into Lobelia in the hall. He’d forgotten about her, again, but as he opened his mouth to say something, there was another knock on the door and he could see her eyes growing a little wild before he turned to open it again.

     ’I see you didn’t get lost this time, my lord.’

     Thorin smiled slightly, a low chuckle in his chest that set Bilbo’s heart to racing as the King Under The Mountain dragged his nephews in, Ori trailing behind with a sack of fish slung over one shoulder and a bright grin from ear to ear. Bilbo couldn’t help but laugh as well as Bag End began to fill with light and spirit again, even as Lobelia swept past him, out the door. Well, who cares what she thought anyways. His family was home!


End file.
